How loud is LOUD?

[Justinh722 10+ year member]

What does 140 decibles sound like? At what point is the SPL high enough to make u wanna get out of the car? People are hitting 150 and then some.....is it hard to breathe with a setup hitting that high? Could listening to 150 db for lets say.....10 mintues straight cause pain/headache?

I was just curious as to how loud some setups sound to the ear, because I have no access to a mic and I dont feel like driving hours to get on one. Thanks

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[skmfkr 5,000+ posts]

I've never had any of my setups metered, but im guessing the one i have now its probly around 140 or so probly less, but some songs make me head hurt a little, it doesnt really hurt my ears it just feels like they are rattling lol

 

[Harrison486 10+ year member]

http://home.new.rr.com/trumpetb/audio/dBexamp.html

 

[Insomniac119 10+ year member]

^it's hard to compair a subwoofer in your car to standing next to a jet taking off. Interesting link though.

 

[Moe Lester 10+ year member]

150+ will cause pain to almost anyone whos never experienced it before...

 

[Spkrman]

150+ will cause pain to almost anyone whos never experienced it before...

One major thing is what does the setup do at the headrest?

150db in the kick can sometimes mean 140 at the headrest... while some setups can do a 141 in the kick and do a 140 at the headrest.

Alot goes into the earometer, remember ure ears are connected to ure head, which is connected to the rest of ya - most of the time it "feels" louder when more air is moving by or the seat is shaking more. This is where the distinction of SPL loud and Daily loud comes in.

That being said... there arent very many cars who can hold a 150+ at the headrest, typically 145+ at the head is past the point of most anyone being comfortable... with the complete noob having their ears hurt around 135-138 at the head.

Earplugs are a good thing //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

150=doesnt feel good

Thats why I wear earmuffs now.

 

[Loudrango112 10+ year member]

150 All you hear is the bass... and it sorta hurts your ears in a weird way.

But there is different sorts of bass... Ive hit 152.... and it not be test pounding... just loud as hell... (was a 66hz toned box)

And I hit 149 now... and I think its HELL of alot louder to my ear.....

 

[MarineGYSGT 10+ year member]

We did an interesting comparison. I am in a Marine F/A-18D squadron and we had a guy with 2 Solo X 15's and a KX2500.1 on each Speaker and had the Jet take off in full afterburner and we were within 15 feet of the jet at full stroke of the burner. I was in the middle between the car and runway with a couple of other Marines and we heard the music over a full afterburner on 2 402 motors with about 18,000lbs of thrust a piece. So you can compare it just hurts. lol

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Well, I can say ~150db is definitely unpleasant and uncomfortable to me. Didn't really enjoy leaving my head in there for more than a minute or two.

 

[AndonD454 10+ year member]

We did an interesting comparison. I am in a Marine F/A-18D squadron and we had a guy with 2 Solo X 15's and a KX2500.1 on each Speaker and had the Jet take off in full afterburner and we were within 15 feet of the jet at full stroke of the burner. I was in the middle between the car and runway with a couple of other Marines and we heard the music over a full afterburner on 2 402 motors with about 18,000lbs of thrust a piece. So you can compare it just hurts. lol

thats pretty impressive.. not to mention a cool test setup. im sure a jet is much loude rsince its such a higher overall frequency but to hear the stereo still is impressive nonetheless.

question though... thought they didnt make solo x 15s..

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

30dB = Computer fan

75dB = Loud talking

85-90dB = shouting (top of your lungs style)

110 dB = Rock Concert

120 dB = .22 Rifle

140 dB = 12 guage Shotgun / Boeing 747 at close range

At 160-170db, playing a tone at close range can collapse your lungs and rupture your heart, which can prove fatal.

These are dBs, not phons, so a rifle will sound a lot louder than a 50hz tone of equal SPL.

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

At 160-170db, playing a tone at close range can collapse your lungs and rupture your heart, which can prove fatal.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

im going to build a system that gets that loud and invite people I dont like to "take a listen"

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

all the common comparisons arent' really that good though, a jet taking off from a few feet away is MUCH louder than any car not hitting 170, at least to the human ear, bass notes are just too hard to hear. Usually the 145-150db range is where I feel pretty uncomforable pretty quick, treble's worse though, that's actually pain, not discomfort. Basically full range loud>bass loud.

 

[AndonD454 10+ year member]

120 dB = .22 Rifle140 dB = 12 guage Shotgun

.

theres a difference of 20 dBs from a 22 to a 12 guage? how is that possible? 12 guage seems louder but not over twice as loud..